Lynch to head Wirt County emergency services

August 22, 2014

ELIZABETH - A new emergency services director for Wirt County has been hired.

Denzil Lynch, 45, of Elizabeth was recently named to the position by the Wirt County Commission. He succeeds Bo Wriston, who was dismissed from the position in June.

Lynch will officially start on Sept. 1, but he has been doing work, attending state meetings and such in his position as the new emergency services director, said Wirt County Commissioner Charles Murray.

Lynch was hired from a field of three applicants who were considered by a committee and interviewed by the commission.

"I think he will be able to bring all the different agencies together and bring unity to them," Murray said.

Lynch is a 1987 graduate of Wirt County High School and served in the U.S. Navy for 24 years, retiring in 2012. He was a sonar technician submarines chief petty officer, serving on seven submarines, the last being the U.S.S. West Virginia.

He served a tour of duty in Iraq. During his time in the Navy, he has spent time in 49 states and 33 countries.

Lynch has been married to his wife, Zina, for 23 years. The couple has nine children and five grandchildren with a sixth on the way.

Since returning to Elizabeth, he has served with the Wirt County Volunteer Fire Department for the last 18 months and is enrolled at West Virginia University at Parkersburg studying Computer and Information Technology. He is expecting to complete his associate degree in the spring.

He attended an Office of Emergency Services meeting in Charleston Thursday for Region 1 and will be attending other meetings in the coming days.

His main goal is to build a cohesive unit with the agencies in the county, including the fire department, the emergency medical service, the Community Emergency Response Team, and law enforcement, he said.

"My main directive is to get everyone to function as one unit," he said. "I want to build cohesiveness among the different agencies."

Lynch is planning to assess what is available within the county and plan accordingly to move forward.